Global Agenda Update Released

Updates to Global Agenda have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Version 1.5 is the first release of the Recursive Colony expansion and includes major new features, new content and fixes for Global Agenda, including the North Sonora Open Zone.

Server downtime: The Global Agenda Servers are expected to be down on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 from ~11:00 AM to 5:00 PM US Eastern (16:00 to 22:00 GMT) while the patch is deployed. Watch GAServerStatus on Twitter for the latest server availability information.

Major Highlights since Version 1.4

General- A new Open Zone: North Sonora - continues where Dr. Bolonov left off in observing the Recursive Colony at New Yuma. The Colony has grown increasingly aggressive and is now encroaching heavily on ARM territory. This zone leads players out into the northern part of the Sonoran region to discover the Colony’s origins and attempt to suppress its threat to the freed people of Dome City.- Quests are now referred to as ‘assignments’ in game to avoid confusion with missions.

Maps- Significant additions and reworks to Intro missions, including class-based tutorials- Push - Dust: Reworked first objective point- Push - Dust is now available in the Mercenary PvP queue- Acquisition - Colony Cavern: A new Acquisition map in a Recursive setting. Now available for testing in the Beta Maps queue- North Sonora has numerous new instances available for play as you progress through the assignment line.

Features- The assignment system has been improved considerably to allow a greater variety of game play in North Sonora.- New Repeatable Daily assignments are available in the new zone.- Assignment rewards may now include random items that help your character progression.- Improved interfaces on the assignment dialog and log.- Elite Agents now earn a 50% bonus to XP and credits received from assignments.- Boosters now earn a 50% bonus to XP and credits received from assignments.- Boosters may occasionally receive an additional random reward from assignments.- Beacons have been networked together in the open zones, allowing teleportation to specific, previously explored areas of the open zone.- You can now change what assignment you are tracking from the HUD. The default keybind is “G”, and allows you to quickly scan the area for your assignments.- You may now switch to a different instance of an open zone without having to return to Dome City. See the transport kiosks just outside the Dome for more details. Note: VR Arena instance kiosks were fixed in the process.- Added a “zone” chat, which connects all instances of an open zone together.You can switch to the zone channel by starting your chat message with “/1 “. “/z “ also works, as does using the existing UI.- City chat continues to support /c, though it is now considered a zone channel and also respects the /1 chat directive.- Don’t be surprised if you find random chests with loot when traversing North Sonora.- Elite Agent and Boosters are now available in-game for Agenda Points.- Disconnect now returns you to Character Select screen instead of the login screen.- Leveling up now grants a full health and power pool restore.- Clients should no longer freeze for a few seconds between login attempts.- Added various help and tutorial systems. More will be added.- Removed the old “detailed help” menu, which was out-of-date.- Rare Goods Vendor was banned for using AvA exploits.- On-screen notifications when raid and other timed events become available.

Bots- Juggernauts should now award XP when killed.- Ticks now award XP when killed.- Increased XP awarded from Colony Snipers that appear in Raid missions.- Colony Wasps should now better pursue their targets out of LOS- Many previously unseen enemies have been sighted in North Sonora.

Bugs Fixed in Version 1.5- Weapons with right-click secondary fire modes now correctly use the initially fired attack to determine damage and effects (commonly known as the “Beat Stick bug”)- Fixed Helot Minigun not having improved accuracy when using right-click ‘turret’ mode.- Robotics HEL-TAC Rifle now has less visual sight-blocking effects whiled firing scoped- Fixed missing invulnerability in attacker tech pod in Hex Plant 03 and Hex Missile Facility.- In the open zones, you should no longer be respawned in an unexplored location.- Network and system improvements should eliminate most of the previous lag-related assignment issues.- Improved the “received item” UI: you now should be able to see the full item name.- The promotion system’s feedback has been bugfixed and improved.- When equipping, changing offhand or dye slots should no longer set your equipment back to the first page.- Fixed a client crash caused by whispering target names of a certain length.- Boosted Agents should now be able to fly in Dome City irrespective of their client machine’s settings.- Your chat should default to the zone chat channel when appropriate, rather than starting you in the local channel.- Assignment-specific missions should have a simplified end-of-mission screen rather than the standard screen populated with no data.- Right-click inspecting Agents no longer shows you their currency.